Ian A Scott, Sarah N Hilmer, Emily Reeve, Kathleen Potter, David Le Couteur, Deborah Rigby, Danijela Gnjidic, Christopher B Del Mar, Elizabeth E Roughead, Amy Page, Jesse Jansen, Jennifer H Martin
Inappropriate polypharmacy, especially in older people, imposes a substantial burden of adverse drug events, ill health, disability, hospitalization, and even death. The single most important predictor of inappropriate prescribing and risk of adverse drug events in older patients is the number of prescribed drugs. Deprescribing is the process of tapering or stopping drugs, aimed at minimizing polypharmacy and improving patient outcomes. Evidence of efficacy for deprescribing is emerging from randomized trials and observational studies...
May 2015: JAMA Internal Medicine